9th Grade Civil Servant In Another World Chapter 81 - Another World Army Officer (6)

“In the end, Kruger won’t be able to kill you. So while I’d love to hand you over right now, the time isn’t right yet. Since you’ve become a ‘royalty who swore loyalty,’ if I expose you as a traitor now, there’s a high chance Kruger would eliminate me too. But if you want to keep my mouth shut, pay more money, or give me some other benefit.

So that’s what this comes down to, right?”

When I rattled off Johann’s situation as if I’d figured it all out, Philip nodded.

“That’s right. Got a problem with it?”

“Ugh, disgusting, really. Fine, I’ll pay. Contact Erika and tell her to take half the rent from District 13.”

“I’ll relay that message exactly.”

“I had no idea our relationship was this thoroughly based on money.”

When Hannah laughed as if she found it interesting, Philip instantly became like melting ice cream.

“No, it’s not exactly like that…”

I shook my head and stood up. I was planning to see what the majors were up to, and if nothing special was happening, suggest we have dinner together.

And shortly after.

“Wahaha, this is great!”

Bang!

With a loud noise, magic fireworks decorated the walls of the residence. Drunk people giggled and clapped while swaying their bodies to the music.

“Should we play Mine next?”

“I’m in favor!”

Thud!

A young major stumbled toward the gramophone and slipped on a plate scattered on the floor. As he lay sprawled in a stupid expression, laughter erupted among the other majors.

“Ahahaha!”

I burst out laughing too and fell off the sofa, hitting my head.

“Battalion Commander! Are you alright?”

“Ah, I’m fine, I’m fine!”

I waved my hand and lifted my heavy body.

“Idiots…”

Philip, standing in a corner with his arms crossed, frowned and muttered.

‘Is this success? But why has it gotten to this extent?’

I thought with my dizzy head. Before I knew it, lively music was flowing from the gramophone.

Without realizing it, giggles escaped me, and I tried not to lose my grip on reality while recalling my memories.

***

It wasn’t just Captain Alina Himmel I’d been sweet-talking for a month.

The ten majors were naturally targets for recruitment too.

They had absolutely no reason to view me favorably. They were in a position where they’d been forced into unwanted military service because of my pointless ‘loyalty oath.’

Moreover, they’d been thoroughly played by the media with stories about how the royalty had knelt before His Excellency the Supreme Leader and such.

At first, some young lord might have foolishly rejoiced at receiving the high rank of major.

But after being dropped in this remote place, they would have been several times more furious than they’d been happy.

In a battalion that was only company-sized, having ten majors buzzing around was embarrassing to even call a demotion.

Anyway, since I understood all those feelings, I kept a close eye on them.

There might be a spy sent by one of those ten hiding among them.

On my first day at the 1st Battalion, as soon as I unpacked my bags at the residence, I called the majors together.

The battalion commander’s office was packed, and being the smallest in stature, I felt somewhat intimidated while deliberately relaxing my expression. Taking a comfortable posture in an atmosphere full of hostility.

“Nice to meet you. As I introduced earlier, I’m Lucas Redan. I’m a descendant of the royal family like all of you, and also a comrade who will continue this harsh military life with you.”

Perhaps because I used polite formal speech, the majors’ expressions became strange.

“First, I should apologize. You were all forced to be commissioned because of me.”

I looked around at them with gentle eyes. They were all young. Well, most of them were younger than me.

“You must be worried. You’re probably confused about what you’ll do and how you’ll live in this rough mountain village on the border. But put those concerns aside. I’ll send you all back as quickly as possible.”

“How can you guarantee that?”

“……”

“……Battalion Commander.”

One major asked in a sharp voice, then hesitated slightly and added the title when I stared at him steadily. I smiled gently.

“Good question. Hmm, first I should tell you why I became a soldier. That should clear up some of your doubts. Originally, I wanted to serve His Excellency the Supreme Leader. You might think differently about that.”

The majors’ expressions were exactly that.

‘So what?’

I smiled broadly and continued.

“All the things I’ve done so far… ah, you must have heard the news. Rescuing a kidnapped young lady, or going to find the queen in Rubellia. All of those things were to catch His Excellency the Supreme Leader’s eye. And this is the result.”

I tapped the office desk.

“His Excellency the Supreme Leader seems interested in my bloodline. The last of the fallen Berg royal family. It’s a justification worthy of adding a handful of dirt to building His Excellency the Supreme Leader’s great nation. What a beautiful picture it would be if a celebrity turned out to be a royal descendant and voluntarily went to guard the border. I gladly accepted, but I really had no idea you would all get caught up in it too. I apologize, though it’s late.”

I walked to the window and closed the dim sunlit window and even drew the curtains.

“That’s the situation that’s already been revealed, and what you probably guessed too.”

I lowered my voice while turning on the magic lamp on the table.

“So what’s the real purpose hidden behind that? From here on, it’s the realm of speculation.

First, he’s testing me. He’s going through a process of building experience and assessing abilities before employing me.”

I paused and looked at the majors, then chuckled.

“No one seems to agree. Then the second hypothesis. He’s planning to use me and all of you in a different way.”

“Use us again? How?”

A youth whose stiff speech seemed awkward due to his baby face, as if he’d just reached adulthood, asked.

“Hmm, well. To figure that out, we’d have to think about what you and I have in common first. What might that be?”

I asked as gently as an elementary school teacher.

Actually, I’d finished investigating the majors before coming here.

Unlike Captain Himmel, whom I’d only learned about on the morning of departure and didn’t have time to investigate, the majors had been so sensationalized by the media that all their personal information had been exposed.

Kruger was right.

They really were idle rich kids who relied only on their ancestors’ legacy.

It wasn’t incomprehensible.

The Berg dynasty had an unusually long history. There were over thirty branch families derived from the Berg house alone.

Among them, families that had opposed the revolutionary forces or Kruger had all been massacred, while conversely, families that had groveled were doing well.

Still alive without being either?

That meant they were truly useless.

Literally dregs who had survived by looking around nervously and being pushed around without the thought or ability to either actively grovel to new powers or resist them.

What could young people raised in such families do? They just wasted their lives with learned helplessness from an early age.

Thinking about it, Lucas had been similar. A life of pathetic groveling. The only slightly unusual thing was that he hadn’t known the secret of his birth and had gone completely mad from fear.

The majors seemed to realize what I meant, as their expressions soured slightly.

“That’s right. We’re all royal descendants, but from relatively humble families. If we ranked succession rights like in the monarchical era, we’d probably be at the very bottom. Why would His Excellency the Supreme Leader gather only such people?”

“Well, they’re clean families that never opposed His Excellency…”

“Isn’t it because we’re easy targets?”

A young major suddenly blurted out, then seemed surprised at himself and clamped his mouth shut. I smiled and nodded.

“Correct. Because we’re easy targets. We have fame but no power. So we’re convenient to use.”

“How so?”

“Hmm, well. For example, by killing us all?”

At my casually thrown words, the office atmosphere turned ice-cold. I chuckled and continued cheerfully as if humming.

“We’re currently in a unit facing the border with Cortana. And Cortana is land that we Schufabens should rightfully reclaim.”

Cortana wasn’t originally land where Schufabens lived.

It was just a place that Schufaben had swallowed up when the nation was founded during continental chaos, then lost during a civil war about 200 years ago.

It was beyond treacherous mountain ranges, and was precariously maintaining its status as an independent nation due to international scrutiny.

We happened to be right in front of such a country with that kind of history.

“Just a little beyond those mountains are Cortana’s border guards. If we had a conflict with them and were killed, what would happen then?”

Several majors’ faces turned white.

From Kruger’s perspective, it would be hitting the jackpot. Eliminating potentially threatening forces while gaining justification for war.

“You can’t be so bold as to assert such a thing! What if the Battalion Commander’s speculation is completely wrong…”

One major shouted timidly. It sounded more like genuine confusion than criticism for daring to guess the Supreme Leader’s intentions.

As expected, there didn’t seem to be any Supreme Leader fanatics among these young men. There might be spies, though.

“Did you just say speculation?”

My voice turned sharp and echoed in the quiet office. I erased my gentle smile and glared at the majors.

“Does this look like speculation to you?”

I began planting fantasies in their minds, little by little, very gradually.

Trembling gazes and slightly rough breathing. Confirming the reactions that these pampered boys couldn’t hide even if they tried, I whispered.

“Gentlemen. Let me make you a proposal. Do nothing and play to your heart’s content. I’ll do the same. And when the secret order comes, we’ll create a very nice scene. I’ll be killed by Cortana soldiers, and you’ll become witnesses and heroes who bravely fought off the soldiers. Then…”

My very secretive whisper began to cloud the majors’ judgment.

No, I had merely thrown sparks.

In Schufaben, where secrets, conspiracies, and schemes run rampant, you can’t distinguish what’s real and what’s fake.

“Why… are you telling us this? If we were all supposed to die originally.”

One major asked quietly. I snorted dismissively and my eyes flashed.

“Ha, don’t you know? Obviously because I want His Excellency the Supreme Leader to remember only me as a pure victim. I don’t want to share the most important role with you. If there were eleven victims of Cortana, who would pray for me alone?”

Ah, disgusting.

Though it came from my own mouth, it sounds completely insane.

This time, even some majors with decent social experience couldn’t completely hide their expressions.

“So cooperate. With my perfect death.”

“We… obey your orders.”

The majors squeezed out exhausted voices in unison.

***

Hmm, and I really did let them play to their hearts’ content.

I brought in rare books, records, and food to share, or installed a projector to show popular movies.

There were some rather racy films, and others that were propaganda but whose grand scale inspired admiration.

I held drinking parties and celebrations every other day.

And whenever I gave such special treatment, I babbled about ‘perfect death’ and such. Saying this wasn’t free.

At first, the majors were either burdened or desperately trying to hide their ‘this guy’s completely crazy’ reactions, but humans are creatures of adaptation.

As time passed and about a month went by, they were just drunk on the unbelievable laxity that couldn’t be called military life and busy playing around.

Some guys even got permission from me to bring family or lovers to the village below the mountain.

My image was also gradually changing from ‘crazy bastard’ to ‘crazy bastard who treats us well.’

Today wasn’t anything special either. It was a party that started when one of the majors brought good alcohol his family had sent him in a package.

But since we’d become quite close over the past month, it developed into a wild party. We were all in similar situations and full of youthful vigor.

‘This is all an act.’

I lay sprawled on the sofa, pretending to be tipsy and giggling.

Right, it’s all an act.

Everything I told them was lies.

I’m not going to die, and I’m not going to make them into heroes.

But strangely, I felt comfortable.

When was the last time I played so carefreely? At least not once since falling into this world.

‘Damier, Beed, Etin, Hoellope, Schlesby, Koller, Lang, Bay, Schwartz, Loch.’

I recited the majors’ surnames one by one.

How many would be able to leave alive?